Apple's Customer Service, Lately

[FRVRandAFTR]

I am a fan of Apple. I also have no problem calling them out when I feel anything is substandard or done better in some other fashion. (Just to get this out of the way).

I help a lot of friends and family with tech related things that sometimes require assistance from Apple, to the point where it's an issue they must address to solve our problem at the time. Everything else I'm fine doing solo, but you know, somethings just need their back-end support.

What I'm wondering is if anyone else has noticed in the last year or two a steep decline in knowledge of the person helping and just overall tone, as if they just don't care. I'm not one to judge based of a few or several bad experiences with companies but this trend is disturbing. Only 1 issue had been handled exceptionally with us this year and I'm not really setting the bar high here. The people I'm talking to just don't seem "Apple-like". Is it just my bad luck? Is it a trend other people have pointed out?

Part of the reason Apple is what it is in the world today is due to their customer support, and lately saying it's lacking is an understatement. But, honestly I'm not going anywhere and I hope that's not the rational they're starting to use to skimp here.

 

[chscag]

I've only had to contact support once in the last year (iPhone 7+ battery problem). The support person was able to resolve my problem very quickly and professionally. The only other time I needed support was when a hard drive on an older iMac went south. The genius bar took care of that and repaired my iMac and had it back to me in two days. (It was still covered by Apple Care at the time.)

Overall, I believe Apple support is still among the best. Having worked in the electronic and computer repair field for many years, I've run across terrible support that was from some very well known manufacturers.

 

[44267547]

I have nothing negative to say about my experiences with Apple as a company with customer service and their knowledge across the board. I contacted them at least three times per separate issues or concerns with in the last year for larger transactions, each issue was resolved almost immediately and effectively with ease.

There are two reasons that I purchase from Apple and their productline.

1.) They make the best products that last and they stand behind their product.

2.) And the customer Service to assist if I have questions or concerns, which has been nothing short of excellent.

If those two reasons are met by my expectations, Apple will continually receive my support.

 

[bopajuice]

I am a fan of Apple. I also have no problem calling them out when I feel anything is substandard or done better in some other fashion. (Just to get this out of the way).

I help a lot of friends and family with tech related things that sometimes require assistance from Apple, to the point where it's an issue they must address to solve our problem at the time. Everything else I'm fine doing solo, but you know, somethings just need their back-end support.

What I'm wondering is if anyone else has noticed in the last year or two a steep decline in knowledge of the person helping and just overall tone, as if they just don't care. I'm not one to judge based of a few or several bad experiences with companies but this trend is disturbing. Only 1 issue had been handled exceptionally with us this year and I'm not really setting the bar high here. The people I'm talking to just don't seem "Apple-like". Is it just my bad luck? Is it a trend other people have pointed out?

Part of the reason Apple is what it is in the world today is due to their customer support, and lately saying it's lacking is an understatement. But, honestly I'm not going anywhere and I hope that's not the rational they're starting to use to skimp here.

I was just at the Genius Bar the other day. Got there early, and had to wait a bit for service. I did some people watching, and noticed that there were a lot of people there with technical issues, hardware issues, or just had no idea how iOS or MacOS worked. I observed a lot of enthusiastic Apple employees with matching T-shirts gleefuly assisting customers, and resolving issues. The Touch ID on my iPad went out. Had a replacement within 30 minutes of my visit. Very cheerful employee assisted me.

On the other hand, on my way out I asked a question of a T-shirt clad employee standing near the door. They walked me over to a computer assuring me they could answer my question about font size, but they were unable to provide the answer in after looking in preferences. I suspected my question was not doable on the Mac, but the employee seemed very confident. I give them an A for effort.

I thought on my way out, how many other computer makers offer this sort of on site customer support? I will give Apple a positive review, mainly because the are still there and ready to service customers.

 

[Tech198]

Actually you pay for better support, but ya, a decline. However i have no problem,,, customer just has to be more firm ... than before on said issues.

 

[Melrose]

Old thread, yes I know, but in re my recent experience with Apple this week about the iPhone battery repair recall for the shut down issue, I thought I'd give my $0.02...

- In store: Usually less than stellar. Very knowledgeable staff are oft undone by being condescending, snippy, and unhelpful.
- Phone: Usually far exceeds my expectations.

Store experience
I called Apple (last year) about my battery replacement under the recall, the gal was incredibly friendly and said I could take it into the Eastview store and have it done while I wait, so long as I schedule my appointment far enough ahead due to the first-run repairs lowering supplies - which we do. When I get there (+1 hour away), they turn me away with a very condescending attitude - they even told me to reschedule a time to come back to drop the phone off so they could mail it out for repair. So I lived with a temperamental battery for 8 months. Lost a day of work...I work for myself so I could easily say it was north of $300 if go by my usual rate...*

Phone experience
Following a long period of using the phone for work and other life-gets-in-the-way stuff I called Apple on Monday evening and they had my box Fedexed before noon the next day; My phone goes out early afternoon, and now it's being fixed and I'll have it back Friday (maybe even tomorrow).

Times past, a phone rep provided gratis repair on my laptop for my own fault, AND even though it was out of AppleCare - they shipped me a prepaid box and had it fixed and returned within 8 or 9 days: Case damage, my fault, no warranty, shipped, fixed, and returned without costing me a cent. On a different occasion I went into the same Eastview store with an iMac problem and got a song and dance that turned into not one, not two, but three over-an-hour-one-way trips into Rochester. In the end, I called Apple, and lo! they sent a tech to the house and that was the fix.

---

Store support has always - with minor exceptions - not even been that close to mediocre. Over the phone Apple's support is absolutely stunning. Consumer Reports gives them what, 78% satisfaction rate on support or something? that's likely 14.3% for Store and 140% for phone and it averages out.

* But it wasn't total loss! In the end I arranged to treat my parents to an early anniversary lunch at P. F Chang's...of whose menu the Extra Spicy Kung Pao Chicken + Mojito + Vietnamese Lava Cake makes a killer combination. Go there; the help is fantastic and the food is great.

 

[WelshDog]

Old thread, yes I know, but in re my recent experience with Apple this week about the iPhone battery repair recall for the shut down issue, I thought I'd give my $0.02...

- In store: Usually less than stellar. Very knowledgeable staff are oft undone by being condescending, snippy, and unhelpful.
- Phone: Usually far exceeds my expectations.

Store experience
I called Apple (last year) about my battery replacement under the recall, the gal was incredibly friendly and said I could take it into the Eastview store and have it done while I wait, so long as I schedule my appointment far enough ahead due to the first-run repairs lowering supplies - which we do. When I get there (+1 hour away), they turn me away with a very condescending attitude - they even told me to reschedule a time to come back to drop the phone off so they could mail it out for repair. So I lived with a temperamental battery for 8 months. Lost a day of work...I work for myself so I could easily say it was north of $300 if go by my usual rate...*

Phone experience
Following a long period of using the phone for work and other life-gets-in-the-way stuff I called Apple on Monday evening and they had my box Fedexed before noon the next day; My phone goes out early afternoon, and now it's being fixed and I'll have it back Friday (maybe even tomorrow).

Times past, a phone rep provided gratis repair on my laptop for my own fault, AND even though it was out of AppleCare - they shipped me a prepaid box and had it fixed and returned within 8 or 9 days: Case damage, my fault, no warranty, shipped, fixed, and returned without costing me a cent. On a different occasion I went into the same Eastview store with an iMac problem and got a song and dance that turned into not one, not two, but three over-an-hour-one-way trips into Rochester. In the end, I called Apple, and lo! they sent a tech to the house and that was the fix.

---

Store support has always - with minor exceptions - not even been that close to mediocre. Over the phone Apple's support is absolutely stunning. Consumer Reports gives them what, 78% satisfaction rate on support or something? that's likely 14.3% for Store and 140% for phone and it averages out.

* But it wasn't total loss! In the end I arranged to treat my parents to an early anniversary lunch at P. F Chang's...of whose menu the Extra Spicy Kung Pao Chicken + Mojito + Vietnamese Lava Cake makes a killer combination. Go there; the help is fantastic and the food is great.

For me and my wife the store and phone experiences have always been excellent. Really no difference between the two. I took my 6s in because something was blocking the Lightning port. While chatting with the Genius I mentioned this phone was in the serial number range for the battery recall. I told him it hadn't been powering off lately, but that it might have shut down a year ago or more. I figured they would not want to replace the battery. Wrong, he told me their preference was to put a new one in and if I would leave it they could have it done in two hours. I did and they did and everything was and is great with the phone.

I find threads like this all the time. One single person has the <perception> that somehow Apple service is declining based on their one or two or three bad experiences. This gives new meaning to the term "small sample size". Don't get me wrong, people do receive bad service on occasion. But Apple has tens of thousands of customer service employees and it is not possible for all of them to be perfect. **** happens and human beings are unreliable things. Apple runs a better service/support operation that just about anyone and they spend a lot of time and money making sure it works well. Don't worry, Apple customer service is just fine, and when it isn't, they will fix it.